I began by asking whether antisemitism was increasing before Oct. 7 because of the rise of right-wing authoritarianism or whether growing antisemitism had fueled right-wing nationalist movements. “The two work in tandem, but I am always hesitant to make it left or right,” she said. Her friends on the left correctly spot antisemitism on the right; her friends on the right spot it on the left. “The problem is they don’t see it standing right next to people with whom they have ‘street cred,’” she said. She decried using antisemitism as a “political cudgel” to advance another agenda.
She warned that antisemitism is an “equal opportunity” scourge. “I don’t care one whit where it comes from. What is so frightening is that it is coming from everywhere — right, left, center,” she told me. “It is a most ubiquitous form of hatred, not just the oldest.”
Lipstadt has studied antisemitism long enough to be a cold-eyed realist. “It’s akin to a virus that cannot be cured,” she told me. Like a virus, it “adapts” to new situations and venues. It can be fought and contained but never eradicated, in her view, because it is so “baked into” societies around the world.
Why was the antisemitism virus ravaging the world even before Oct. 7? Like a virus, it intensifies at times of stress. “And many of our societies are under stress,” she explained. Wars, political conflict, economic disruption and a pandemic have made people especially vulnerable. “On top of that, you have people who have a utilitarian motive [to spread antisemitism],” she continued.
Indeed, whether it is a former president trying to appeal to white nationalists with Hitlerian language (“vermin”) or far-left activists trying to delegitimize Israel, people will seek to capitalize, sow dissent and push narratives they favor (e.g., authoritarianism) by referencing myths and stereotypes many harbor against Jews. “They find a boogeyman,” she said simply. Social media is “what is different from just a few decades ago,” she observed. “There is a delivery system unlike anything we have seen.” Fed by algorithms that reinforce one’s “interests,” social media spreads and deepens antisemitic myths.
Surprisingly, she does not see education as the whole answer. After all, antisemitic incidents spread on campuses at the most elite schools; highly educated people can be antisemitic. Rather, in her role, she aims at “getting people to take it seriously.” She stressed that it’s key to label antisemitism and explain that “it is a prejudice like other prejudices,” such as against Black people, LGBTQ+ people or any other group.
When I asked her how to combat antisemitic myths meant to delegitimize Israel (part of the internationally accepted definition of antisemitism) — by falsely labeling Israel as a colonizer, for example — she noted that she could point out that Jews have been indigenous to Israel for millennia or explain that more than half of Israeli Jews don’t come from Europe. (And, of course, more than 20 percent of the Israeli population is Arab; Jews were almost entirely chased out of Arab countries with nary a peep from those vilifying Israel.) Instead, she made clear that the accuser is subjecting Israel to a standard no other country must meet, which is the essence of antisemitism. During their history, the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, she said, all displaced indigenous people. No one is calling these countries illegitimate or demanding they evacuate. “So why is Israel different?”
Similarly, she noted that with regard to the horrific sexual violence against women and girls (as well as men) on Oct. 7 and in captivity, many groups that had insisted “believe the women” during the #MeToo movement in this case reacted with a different standard. “We don’t know … We don’t have evidence …” She repeated: “Why the different standard?”
An insidious form of antisemitism is holding Jews accountable and punishing them for what Israel does. When there are antisemitic incidents in Germany or Jews are attacked at a Hillel on campus, “That is not pro-Palestinian. That is antisemitism,” Lipstadt said. And when British Airways pulls a Jewish sitcom from its entertainment selections so as to stay “neutral” in the Israel-Gaza war, “A, that is stupid. And, B, it’s falling into antisemitism.”
Lipstadt returned to a point she frequently makes in public speeches about why we should care about antisemitism. “It is not just a threat to Jews,” she said. Even if you don’t care about Jews, “it’s a threat to democracy.” When people buy into a vicious conspiracy and call to combat the Jewish homeland “by any means necessary,” she argued, “they’ve given up on democracy.” Still, even if you don’t care about democracy, you should care about antisemitism because it foments “international instability,” she said. Adversaries use it to sow dissension, weaken adversaries and justify aggression against their own people and other countries.
When Lipstadt talks to European leaders, they don’t bother to deny antisemitism is a threat. That is one sign that, if nothing else, the gusher of antisemitism has opened the eyes of everyone from European prime ministers to university presidents to the threat posed by hatred of Jews. (She said she doesn’t doubt the extent of the problem on campuses, but she questioned whether some students are all that committed to heinous messages such as “From the river to the sea.” She said, almost maternally, “Kids don’t want to be unpopular. Some just follow along.”)
I asked if she is an optimist after all these years studying and observing antisemitism. “I couldn’t do my job if I wasn’t an optimist,” she said wryly. She added that her optimism is rooted in another phenomenon: “By all logic, Jews shouldn’t be around anymore.” A tiny people with no country for centuries up against antisemitism embedded in Christian doctrine and other beliefs? It defies reason. And yet Jews remain on the planet. She seconded Rabbi David Wolpe’s message: That is the real Hanukkah miracle.
And, if not a miracle, Lipstadt’s willingness to do doing the work of fighting antisemitism when it is needed most is certainly a blessing.
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